 Poster: A snowHead
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Clearly, this thread is about the season-opening trip that biggles76, myself and my girlfriend enjoyed in Alpe d'Huez and Les Deux Alpes from Thursday to Monday (if you fail to spot the obvious connection from the title, read on).
We arrived in Alpe D'H midday on Thursday. The cows were grazing on the blue runs and the upper mountain could've been used to fake a moon landing. Still, we found good snow on the small glacier and made the first real turns of the season.
After Thursday night's and Friday's snowfalls, things improved enormously (despite high winds resulting in uneven snow coverage and a late opening of the lifts on Friday). On Saturday, I was making fresh tracks by the Signal chairlift, under a blue sky and a chilly sun.
One of the best decisions of the trip was to spend Sunday in Les Deux Alpes. We liked the resort, the terrain and the skiing more than Alp D'H and we got to meet the resident snowhead, easiski (Charlotte). May I say huge thanks to her for getting my girlfriend back on skis and enjoying it (after an ACL tear on her fourth ever day of skiing). All this at a discounted price, too! Also, biggles and I are grateful to her for guiding us around the mountain and showing us the views (or what the views would have looked like, had the fog not been cotton-thick on the mountain-top). This culminated in a great view of LDA at night, as we descended the closed Le Diable in near-darkness with a pisteur chasing us downhill.
We got free technique tips as well. As standard skiing terminology failed to convey the flowing gracefulness of my short turns, easiski used the term "demented bananas" to capture their elegance.
I heartily recommend easiski as a great instructor – you'll have fun and learn a lot.
Sunday was supposed to be the day we returned to London. However, the road was covered in snow, it was getting late (and still snowing), and our rented asthmatic Corsa had neither winter tyres nor snow chains. As a matter of urgency, biggles was dispatched to the shops to buy some chains. Once there, he switched on his French big style, and was surprised to find that the supermarket does not sell snow dogs (chiens de neige). As luck would have it, neither did they have the right size 'chaines de neige' in stock, so we were forced (kicking and screaming) to change our flight reservations and stay one more day in LDA. All through Monday, skiing in knee-deep powder, we felt sad and guilty for missing a day in the office. I'm still getting over it, hence this post on snowHeads.
Incidentally, biggles and I are beginning to make a tradition of this season opener (last year's was in Cervinia). Perhaps next season we'll get some more snowheads to join in. We can pretty much guarantee snow and an interesting time (everything seemed to follow us as we moved around: snow, fog, winds, people filling up the bars and the ski rental shops which were empty when we entered, etc).
Photos should be posted soon. Comments are welcome!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cedric, we certainly enjoyed our lesson with Charlotte this Summer on the glacier.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Cedric wrote: |
| As standard skiing terminology failed to convey the flowing gracefulness of my short turns, easiski used the term "demented bananas" to capture their elegance. |
My last instructor yelled up the slope that I was skiing like an epileptic octopus - so I sympathise, Cedric.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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DavidS, while my stance has been likened to a constipated ostrich trying to pass a bag of nails. And that by an Italian ski instructor.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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fantastic kuwait_ian! someone else in my group was accused of being a model... for armitage shanks. she was not impressed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
| My last instructor yelled up the slope that I was skiing like an epileptic octopus |
Bet s/he wasn't ESF!
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my favorite "instructor-ism" was due to a bit of a language barrier, in serbian fingers and toes share the same word. so my instructor was telling me to push harder with my fingers... and i was a bit confused sliding backwards down the mountain wondering if i should really fall into the snow and dig in with my fingers. hours of fun.
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Hey, looks like I've been misunderstood! Charlotte was GREAT! She wasn't my or biggles' instructor, but she very nicely took the time to show us around the mountain, said some very good things about our skiing and also made this banana joke which I thoroughly enjoyed. She's right, too, the shorter my turn the more I revert to 80s style in skiing.
(Different people should be motivated differently. My girlfriend, who needed a confidence boost, had only encouraging, positive remarks from Charlotte. It worked).
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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my somewhat acerbic instructor was the best i've ever had too, cedric. nothing wrong with a good insult!
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Cedric, Thanks for the kind words Cedric. I'm glad you didn't take offense at the comment! I did thoroughly enjoy our somewhat "dark" descent, the view of the town was spectacular wasn't it? 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Cedric wrote: |
Photos should be posted soon. Comments are welcome! |
So, Cedric, any photos?
I look forward to skiing with you Very Soon (!). I wonder if the snow in the Dolomites will be deemed good enough! Many places seems to have less snow than average on upper slopes but more on lower slopes (Arraba 50 / 30cm, no snow since 1st Dec!) Cortina more like average 60 / 20cm - . And in Maurienne, Val Cenis 70 / 35, Valfrejus 80 / 25.
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